Valencia, California-based Axanar Productions has engaged Winston & Strawn as legal counsel to help defend it against claims made by Paramount Pictures and CBS Studios.

(Valencia, CA) – Alec Peters, Executive Producer of AXANAR, a feature-length film financed through crowd funding and direct donations from fans, announced today that the company producing the film, Axanar Productions, has engaged Winston & Strawn, one of the leading IP practices in the country, to provide legal counsel in its lawsuit with CBS Studios, Inc. and Paramount Pictures Corporation. Representing Axanar Productions and Peters will be attorneys Erin Ranahan and Andrew Jick from the firm’s Los Angeles office. Winston & Strawn have agreed to represent Axanar Productions and Alec Peters on a pro-bono basis.

The suit, filed by CBS and Paramount on December 29, 2015, seeks to stop Axanar Productions from producing a fan film set in the Star Trek universe. The suit also asks for damages from the production company, its chief executive Alec Peters and a host of unnamed defendants who were involved in the production of the short film PRELUDE TO AXANAR.

“We’re pleased to have our case taken up by Winston & Strawn,” said Peters. “The knowledge, credibility and reputation they bring to this matter will certainly help us work things out with CBS and Paramount in a professional manner and, we hope, to a mutual benefit so we can go on and make a Star Trek film fans have told us they want to see.”

In the meantime, Axanar Productions has suspended fund-raising activities for the feature production and has announced a delay in principal photography until the fate of the lawsuit can be discussed in more detail with counsel. “We want to produce this film,” said Peters. “And we want to respect the rights of the owners of the intellectual property on which our film is based.”

A formal response to the lawsuit will be prepared and delivered to the court by the extended deadline of February 22nd.

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AXANAR and PRELUDE TO AXANAR are projects produced by AXANAR Productions in Valencia, CA. Axanar For more information on AXANAR and associated production efforts, visit: www.startrekaxanar.com. For downloads of visual assets and other editorial content related to Axanar Productions projects, please visit: www.axanarpr.com.